Building the Beloved Community

What would it look like and feel like to live in and amongst a community

marked ultimately by love?

We invite you to join the conversation over the next several weeks as we

embark on a journey to not only renew as a church, but to build the Beloved

Community, right here and right now.

The Beloved Community is a vision that describes a world and a reality in which

all people can flourish and reach their full God-given potential, together. It is a

vision that promotes racial inclusivity, inter-generational belonging, a

community of curiosity, hospitality and family. It’s a vision that ultimately

promotes love, above all else.

And not just any kind of love, but a particular love. A Kingdom of God, kind of

love. A love rooted in the very person and way of Jesus — a Jesus who on the

night of his betrayal, gathered for a final meal with his disciples (one of which

would deny him and the other who would betray him), washed their dirty feet,

and gave them a new commandment that said: “Love each other. Just as I

have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will

know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” (John 13:34-35)

This is what we discover in John’s text, the vision for the Beloved Community

wasn’t new at all. And for Jesus, that vision and dream of the Beloved

Community — intended for the whole world to experience — would start first

with the twelve disciples. It would start first with the church.

So, the question for us then becomes not just a hypothetical one that asks:

What would it look like and feel like to live in and amongst a community

marked ultimately by love? But instead, the better question is one that asks:

What would it look like and feel like to create the Beloved Community right

here, right now, starting with us?